Monster Hunter: World
Popular Series Grows into a Global Brand
Title Introduction
Monster Hunter Series
Hunting Action Game in Which Players Face Off against Giant Monsters in Magnificent Natural Settings
The Monster Hunter series is a hunting action game in which players face off against giant monsters in magnificent natural settings. Establishing a new communication style of online collaborative play in which friends cooperate to battle giant monsters, this title created a social phenomenon in Japan known as the “Monster Hunter craze.” Since the first title in this series was launched in 2004, the number of fans has continued to increase over the past 14 years, growing into an extremely popular series with a cumulative 48 million units sold (as of March 31, 2018).
The first Monster Hunter game, released in 2004, created a social phenomenon referred to as the “Monster Hunter craze,” firmly establishing it as a national pastime in Japan. However, the growth of its popularity overseas was an issue: in contrast to its domestic popularity, overseas sales were only one quarter those in Japan.
To address this, with the launch of Monster Hunter: World in January 2018, Capcom rolled out a variety of measures aimed at propelling Monster Hunter into a global brand.
Of these numerous measures, one involved the series’ first global simultaneous launch date. This facilitated the simultaneous dissemination of information throughout the world, attracting theattention of a greater number of consumers.
Additionally, Monster Hunter: World was developed for high-end consoles with globally large installation bases. As a result, we were able to satisfy game players who expressed their desire to play a more technologically advanced Monster Hunter, an opinion we had received more than ever before, while at the same time build a foundation for the next generation of the brand.
These efforts were successful, and without any loss of core series fans, we were able to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers to earn high praise from users around the world and achieve shipments of 7.9 million units, a Capcom company record. Further, we succeeded in capturing overseas users, with an overseas sales ratio of approximately 60%.
Furthermore, the PC version of Monster Hunter: World was released worldwide in August 2018, and in order to further cement its position as a global IP alongside Resident Evil and Street Fighter, we will continue working to further grow sales.
